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Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Best Chicken Salad Ever {Recipe}

I am a huge fan of the chicken salad sandwich. Whenever I try a new restaurant or sandwich shop, I always try their chicken salad sandwich. It's the way I measure how great the food is at a particular establishment. {Also, I do this with guacamole at new Mexican food restaurants. I can't help it.} So I finally decided, a few years back, to perfect my own chicken salad recipe. After a few misses {thank you dear husband for being my taste tester}, I finally arrived at the holy grail of chicken salads. It is sweet, salty, crunchy but still moist. In a word: perfection. At least, I humbly think so. When I am hosting any kind of shower or party, it is my go-to entree and I am always asked for the recipe. So, here it is! The Best Chicken Salad Recipe EVER! Or so far, anyways. :)

When I first started making this recipe, I always used the canned chicken because it was SO much easier. Then I started making this for showers and family gatherings and it got a little pricey to make the bigger batches using the canned chicken. So I started baking my own chicken and never looked back. Cheaper and much more tasty.

First, I line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (it's easy clean up) and fill it with frozen chicken tenders. I have never counted exactly how many chicken tenders I use but a cookie sheet full has always been almost exactly what I need.

Then I coat the tenders with the cooking spray and sprinkle them spices. I like to use salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash and Season All.

Bake them for about 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven (depending on the thickness of the chicken) until done.

While the chicken is cooling, I cut up my cup of grapes...

and dice up the cup of pickles.

When the chicken is cool enough to be handled, I cut it into little chunks.{Bonus: If you have any left over baked chicken, it is great on top of salads or rolled up as a fajita. Yum!}

Next, I add the cup of mayonnaise, along with the teaspoon of salt and the 2 tablespoons of parsley.

Mix well. This recipe tastes even better the longer it sits so I like to let it set in the fridge for at least an hour.

Right before serving, I add the half a cup of almonds.

Then serve on a croissant and enjoy!

With spring just around the corner, I know I will be making this quite a bit for picnics and family gatherings. In fact, for this blog post I had to make the recipe twice because my family ate all the chicken salad before I was able to get a final picture. I really should know better by now.